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‘The campus just stopped’: Solar eclipse captures students’ attention

By Matthew Sage | April 11

“Since the next total eclipse visible from the Eastern Seaboard won’t occur until 2024, a great many amateurs will also be out to look at, and photograph this event,” an article in the Tufts Observer read the day before the last total eclipse fell over New England in 1970. But in a rare moment, scientific spectacle again eclipsed students’ usual academic schedules to bring hundreds of Tufts students flocking to President’s Lawn, basking in the dim light of the most recent partial eclipse on Monday. From the Medford/Somerville campus, students were able to catch a glimpse of a 93% covered sun using pairs of eclipse glasses, smartly passed between friends.

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Tufts’ cost of attendance reaches record-breaking $92,167 for upcoming academic year

By Estelle Anderson | April 11

Tufts’ total cost of attendance has broken the $90,000 barrier for the 2024–2025 academic year, reflecting the rising costs of higher education across the country. For incoming undergraduate students at Tufts, the new price of attendance is approximately $92,167 — a figure that includes ...

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Here’s what to know about Fiona Hill, 2024 Commencement speaker

By Carly Cohen | April 11

Fiona Hill, a former advisor to three U.S. Presidents and the current Chancellor of Durham University, will deliver the commencement address to the class of 2024. University President Sunil Kumar announced Hill as the speaker on March 27.

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Q&A: Meet Saffiyah Coker, this year’s Wendell Phillips speaker

By Carly Cohen | April 11

Saffiyah Coker, a senior studying economics and international relations, was selected as the winner of the Wendell Phillips award and will deliver an address at this year’s Baccalaureate Ceremony. The award, established in 1896, is named for the attorney, women’s and Native Americans’ rights activist and abolitionist. The award is given to a senior who demonstrates marked ability as a public speaker and a sense of public responsibility.

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Voting for spring 2024 TCU elections begins

By Almer Yu | April 10

The spring 2024 Tufts Community Union Elections are here. Polls are open from Wednesday at 12 p.m. until Friday at 12 p.m. All students will receive a link in their Tufts email address directing them to an electronic ballot. Sophomores and juniors will decide their incoming class representatives in competitive elections. The Indigenous Peoples’ Community Senator seat remains vacant for a third semester, while no candidates are running to fill the newly vacated Latinx Community Senator seat.

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Tufts Federalist Society hosts panel on intellectual diversity in law schools

By Lang Law | April 5

The Tufts Federalist Society hosted a panel titled “Intellectual Diversity on Law School Campuses” on March 28. The panel participants included Emily Miller, a third-year JD candidate at Harvard Law School; Ben Pontz, a third-year JD candidate at Harvard Law School and president of the Harvard Federalist Society; and Kristi Jobson, Assistant Dean for Admissions and Chief Admissions Officer for Harvard Law School. Dayna Cunningham, Dean of the Tisch College of Civic Life, moderated the panel.

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Hodgdon Food-on-the-Run cracks down on student theft

By Almer Yu | April 4

In recent weeks, students purchasing food from Hodgdon Food-on-the-Run will have noticed the dining location’s line layout appears to have undergone a subtle redesign and that customers now receive a paper receipt upon checking out.Often, a watchful employee stands near the door.

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Imposter April Fools’ email announces Kumar’s death

By Shannon Murphy | April 3

An unauthorized email purportedly announcing the death of University President Sunil Kumar was sent to Tufts community members on the morning of April 1, ending with the words “April Fools” and a call for heightened security measures.

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Department of Romance Studies announces new multilingual major

By Michael Onysko | April 3

The Department of Romance Studies is unveiling a new interdisciplinary major — aptly named Romance Studies — for the upcoming fall semester that will allow students to study two romance languages simultaneously. In addition, the French department has also tweaked requirements for the French minor to accommodate students with higher proficiency, with credit toward the six required courses beginning at French 4.

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Tufts accepts 10% of applicants to Class of 2028

By Anna Fattaey | April 2

Tufts University accepted 10% of applicants to the undergraduate Class of 2028, the admissions office announced shortly after spring break. This year’s acceptance rate rose just half a percent above the record low acceptance rate set last year, just 9.5%. 

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Pilot program to extend JCC hours for April

By Samantha Eng | March 28

On any given weekend morning, small crowds of students can be found waiting outside the Joyce Cummings Center entrance. Why? The building is closed to non-computer science students before 12 p.m. For this demographic, the following behavior is typical: fruitlessly pulling at the door handles, peering into the windows or awkward loitering until someone with the right keycard comes along.

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10th annual TEDxTufts conference to take place on April 13

By Josué Pérez | March 27

TEDxTufts announced the speaker lineup for this year’s conference and a special exhibit that will be featured on the day of the conference. The conference, on April 13, is being presented as: “TEDxTufts Turns Ten: Refraction.” The speaker lineup for this year’s conference includes Bernadette Dineen, Cristobal Cea, David “Dee-1” Augustine, David Delvalle, Dr. Miguel Basáñez, Dr. Natalie Rubio, Nikhil Vootkur, Peter Kaldes, Sophia Day and Supreme Hassan.

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Global Tufts Month highlights international engagement

By Samara Haynes | March 26

For the sixth consecutive year, Tufts is hosting Global Tufts Month. Throughout the month of March, a series of collaboratively organized events will be put on following the theme “Humanitarian Aid: Working Together in Times of Conflict.”

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Federalist Society panel discusses Trump’s criminal indictments

By Lang Law | March 14

The Tufts Federalist Society hosted a panel about the criminal indictments against former United States President Donald Trump on March 1 in the Joyce Cummings Center. The panel consisted of Jeffery Cohen, associate professor of the practice at Boston College Law School; Ilya Shapiro, a senior fellow at The Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank; and the moderator, Tufts’ own Eitan Hersh, an associate professor of political science and civic studies.

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Career center staff weigh in on sophomore major declaration deadline

By Rose Hollander | March 14

By March 1, sophomores in the School of Arts and Sciences were required to declare a primary major. This is a hard deadline for all second-year students, with class registration placed on hold upon failure to declare. While many have already decided on a major, others approached the deadline undeclared.

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Engineers will now register for classes side by side with Arts and Sciences students

By Shannon Murphy | March 13

On Monday, Tufts announced a pilot program involving new changes to the registration process for undergraduate students. Engineering students will now register two days in advance for School of Engineering and select Arts and Sciences courses required for their degree progress — mostly those under the math, chemistry, biology and physics and astronomy departments — but will register for other classes simultaneously with Arts and Sciences students in their class year at randomly assigned times. 

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Tufts has a new club sport — pickleball

By Amaani Jetley | March 12

Club pickleball, founded this semester by sophomores Luke Steiner and Kekoa Pastron, aims to provide a space for students to be able to both learn the growing sport and play it competitively. Currently, the team has over 100 people on their roster and is only growing.

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How to transform policy into change: Tufts Education Reentry Network

By Jake Ren | March 11

On the evening of Feb. 29, the Rabb Room in Barnum Hall became a productive dialogue space consisting of Tufts undergraduates, Tufts Prison Initiative graduates, activists and government legislators, all gathered to discuss how to turn policies on paper into real change.

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Professor Kevin Outterson speaks on antimicrobial resistance

By Tvisha Goel | March 8

Kevin Outterson, a professor of health law, ethics and human rights at Boston University, spoke at The Fletcher School’s annual Dr. Maurice S. Segal Lecture on Feb. 29. Outterson’s talk, titled “The Social Ecology of Antimicrobial Resistance,” focused on the science, economics and accessibility of antimicrobial medicines.

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‘Empowering’ the South Asian community at Tufts through dance, music and culture: TASA’s Culture Show

By Teagan Mustone | March 7

The Tufts Association of South Asians hosted its annual Culture Show in the Cohen Auditorium this past Saturday. The lively “C-Show” set was made up of 15 acts including four South Asian dance teams, four class dances, three solo acts, a guest performance and a comedy skit intertwined.

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